Improvement in machines for polishing the eyes of sewing-machine needles



x "UNITED f -'lut-TES. PATENT THADnnUs Fownne, onToTrENvILLE, NewYonmnssrenon To EXCEL- SIOR NEEDLE COMPANY, OF WOLCOTTVILLE,CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING THE EYES 0F SEWING-MACHINENEEDLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 107,896, dated October4, 1870.

To "71 whom it mag/"concern: Beit known that I, TnAnnnUs FOWLER, of

` Tottenville,in the countyof Richmond and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Polishingthe Eyes of Sewing-Machine Needles; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part of this specification, in whichy Figure lrepresents, in perspective, a machine which embodies the principle of myinvention; and Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinal section throughthe machine.

Ordinary hand-sewing needles are strung upon a wire or thread upon whichoil and emery are placed, and their eyes are polished by twirlin g ormovin g th em on such wire or thread.

This answers very well for needles that draw their thread through thecloth or other material, as the strain on the thread is on or throughits most highly-polished part; but sewing-machine needles, or needleshaving their eye at or near the point, and which push their threadthrough the cloth, if so strung .on a wire or thread and twirled, wouldhave the wrong end of the eye polished,fwhile that which is most tryingon-the sewing-thread would not be polished at all.

My invention having for its object the pol-- ishin g of sewing-machine'needles, such needles cannot be suspended from the polishing wireor thread with their lower ends uncontrolled,

v which are made to traverse through the eyes thereof; but at the sametime the needles are clamped or' controlled at their points, and have ormay have a rocking4 or vibrating or rising and falling motion that willbring such polishing-threads through every partl and corner of the eye,the top as well as the bottom, and the sides. and corners as well as theends thereof 5 and my invention consists in devices for polishing theeyes of sewing-machine needles by clamping the needles in a bed orclamp, and

vibrating frame, and so that a change of position ofthe needles will notcarry with them theirpolishing-threads, but cause them to work againstdifferent portions of the eyes.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

On a frame or bed, A, are mounted posts or guides a a, on or throughwhich the rails b of a frame, B, work or reciprocate, said frame beingmoved by ,a crank, C, shaft D, crankarm E, and connecting-rod F. On thefront of this frame B there is a series of hooks, c, and at the rear ofthe frame another series of hooks, e; but these latter are attached tospiral or other springs d, so that they may yield to such strain ascomes upon them.

A thread or a series of threads,f, having been passed through the eyesof the needles g, at or near their points, are fastened to the hooks ce, so that the needles would hang, if not otherwise controlled, withtheir points up and their butts down, and if twirled or moved on thepolishing-threads in this position would polish the end of the eye notso necessary to be polished, and would entirely fail to polish that endof the eye which must be perfectly smooth, or else it would chafe off orcut the thread in sewing.

Underneath the frame B there is a clamp, Gr, composed of one pivotedjaw, h, to which another jaw, h', is hinged, asiat i, said hinged jawbeing held up tightagainst its fellow by a spring, j, and saidijawsbeing faced with leather, wood, or other slightly-yielding material,between which the butts of the needles g g are clamped.

On the clamp Gr there is a handle, 7c, and a stop-rod, l, which are atits end; and on the Futon.

hack of the clamp there is an arm, m, weighted,

vif found necessary, and under it a stoprod, n,

secured in the base or bed A.

When the clamp is moved in one direction the rod l, coming against thepost a', stops it in that direction. When moved in the other directionthe arm m comes against the rod and stops it in that direction.

It will be noticed in Fig. 2 that the threads f have a littleinclination, so that if the needles Were stationary this alone wouldcause the threads to Inoveiup and down the whole length of the eye; butwhen, in addition to this, the clamp is niovediirst against one stop andthen against the other, it gives the threads the opportunity of touchingtop, bottom, sides, and corners, so as to eiect a perfect polish to theWhole eye, which, in sewingmaohine needies, is very important, as suchneedles not only push the thread through the cloth, but

then draw the slack back or the thread back again.

Having thus full;r described my invention,

what I claim therein as new, and desire to set as described.

THADDEUS FOWLl'llt. Witnesses:

A. B. SToU'GH'roN, EDMUND Masson.

